
SABBATH-SCHOOL LESSON QUARTERLY
31
3.
"That might have seemed the proudest moment in the life
of Jesus, the moment when the homage of man was most spon-
taneous and most real; but in truth it was one of the saddest.
The enthusiasm only deepened His solitude, made it more awful
to His spirit, while throwing upon the coming events a more tragic
coloring. Their praise was pain; for what they praised was
the idol of their own imaginations, not the Christ who was
coming to suffer and die. In the midst of their joy He rode
possessed of the vivid consciousness that the discovery of the
truth would change their jubilant cry of welcome into the de-
lirious shout of passion and revenge. So, as they swept round
the shoulder of the hill, and the city burst upon His view, turreted,
temple-crowned, lying white and radiant in the glorious sunlight,
hallowed by a thousand sacred memories, darkened by a thousand
sins, the pathos of the place and the moment, the then and
the to be, the ideal and the actual, the men and the city as they
seemed and as they were, was more than His heart could bear,
and He wept, saying, 'If thou hadst known, at least in this thy
day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are
hid from thine eyes."!--"Fairbairn:
Studies in the Life of
Christ," pages 231, 232.
4.
"Again the piercing look of Jesus swept over the dese-
crated court of the temple. All eyes were turned toward Him.
Priest and ruler, Pharisee and Gentile, looked with astonishment
and awe upon Him who stood before them with the majesty of
heaven's King. Divinity flashed through humanity, investing
Christ with a dignity and glory He had never manifested before.
Those standing nearest Him drew as far away as the crowd would
permit. Except for a few of His disciples, the Saviour stood
alone. Every sound was hushed. The deep silence seemed un-
bearable. Christ spoke with a power that swayed the people like
a mighty tempest: 'It is written, My house shall be called the
house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.' His
voice sounded like a trumpet through the temple. The dis-
pleasure of His countenance seemed like consuming fire. With
authority He commanded, 'Take these things hence.'
"—"Desire
of Ages," pages 590, 591.
5.
"As Jesus in the temple [when twelve years old] solved
the mysteries which priests and rulers had not discerned, so in
the closing work of this earth, children who have been rightly
educated will in their simplicity speak words which will be an
astonishment to men who now talk of 'higher education.' As the
children sang in the temple courts, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord,' so in these last days, children's